The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. Originally intended for New York City progressives, its readership is now national. For anyone who wants to be alerted by email whenever this newsletter is updated (usually weekly), please send your email address and let me know what state you live in (so I can keep track of my readership).

Jim Galloway, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist, with over 30 years' experience covering politics and more in Atlanta. Check out: Political Insider with Jim Gallowayat: http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway. Jim will be moderating a panel in one of the workshops on media/politics at this convention!

Still need more to be excited about? Here you go: We'll be taking over of Transmetropolitan pizza restaurant and bar, the Gubernatorial Forum, trainings, workshops, networking and fellowship with other YD’s from across the great state of Georgia! Not to mention...a VIP Reception on Sat. evening with state party leaders, candidates, YDG leadership donors, etc., happening in the brand new ballroom of the Tate2 Center at UGA!

The brand new, Leed certified eco friendly, Hotel Indigo in downtown Athens is definitely going to be where IT's at! Check it out: www.athensdowntownhotel.com Get your rooms reservedbefore March 17th, in order to get the room block.

COWETA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY

The Coweta County, Georgia Democratic Party's regular monthly meeting is the first Saturday of every month at 10:00 am (come at 9:30 for breakfast) at the Westside Restaurant on Temple Avenue in downtown Newnan.

Here's another letter to the editor published November 24, 2009 in the Newnan Times-Herald that is worth reading:

Published Tuesday, November 24, 2009 in Opinion - Newnan Times-Herald

We must remain united

Many gentlemen advocate less government, but considering the preponderance of national history, and more acutely our southern history, I'm not sure I'd go along with them.

Remember first that before our Constitution existed, there were the Articles of Confederation. The articles are roundly considered a failure, as our national government had a hard time getting individual states to act in concert when confronted with a common foe, military or otherwise.

In 1789, they decided to scrap those original documents and create something new, and that Constitution, plus a few amendments, has served us well enough into the modern era. However, remember that our southern ancestors made an attempt at a second Confederacy, and like the first it ended in a failed state.

I have a relative who died for liberty in the Revolution somewhere near King's Mountain S.C., and I have a 3x great granddaddy that made it through the slaughter of Virginia to come home to a ruined farm and starving family. Long story short, I don't care to hear about your ideas of small government, because when followed through to their logical conclusion they lead to disaster not prosperity.

Hamilton, Madison and Jay wrote in The Federalist that great powers divided into several smaller confederacies cease to wield power internationally. Instead, small powers are ripe for manipulation by the Chinas of the world. We must remain united, for if we divide, America becomes threatening only unto herself.

Limited government does not work well in practice, and the idea of small government is with us today because it fits neatly on poster board so sheepish people can bah-bah-bah right along while Fox pundits tell them what to think at a tea-bagging rally. Which brings me to another point, why does a news corporation put on political rallies?

Buck AlfordNewnan

Solar Energy in Coweta County:

You can search for a solar installer in your area of Coweta County by clicking here.

All graphs I see for locations in Coweta County indicate that Coweta County is suitable for solar energy based on the amount of sunshine received during the year. For example, for Sharpsburg, GA here is the graph of sunshine received on a month-by-month basis compared with the national average:

This information can be useful to help determine if Sharpsburg will do well with solar photovoltaic panels (for solar electricity generation), solar water heating systems, solar pv, solar heat, solar pool heating, etc. The closer the dark green line is to the light blue line (or the higher it is above it), the better. Sharpsburg matches the light blue line pretty well, going above (better) some months, and below (worse) some months. The rest of Coweta County, GA shows a pattern similar to that of Sharpsburg. To be sure your property is suitable, click on the link above, find your town and then zip code, then fill in the form to get a detailed analysis and quote. On average for the nation, you break even on your investment in solar energy within 3-5 years and after that you get many years of essentially free energy (warranties on solar panels range from 20-25 years...so that is 15-20 years of nearly free energy from your solar panels).